Youth in Capital Murder Trial Hospitalized For Drug Overdose

PHILLIP RAWLSAugust 17, 1987

ASHVILLE, Ala. (AP) _ A teen-ager accused of shooting a woman to death as part of a fantasy game was in critical condition following a reported drug overdose Monday as his murder trial entered its second week.

Cayce Moore, 19, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity in the 1985 slaying that stunned the small, close-knit community of Ragland, was found at his home in Leeds on Monday morning and taken to Baptist Medical Center- Montclair in Birmingham.

Saint Clair County Circuit Judge Carl Nesmith recessed Moore’s trial and ordered attorneys and law enforcement officials to make no comment about his status.

However, a court official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Moore was hospitalized for an apparent drug overdose. The Gadsden Times, also citing an unidentified court source, said Moore suffered an overdose of sedatives and an over-the-counter headache remedy.

Hospital spokeswoman Kay Walker confirmed that Moore was taken to the emergency room in critical condition but said any other comment would have to come from Moore’s attorney, Russell T. McDonald Jr., who was not immediately available for comment.

Moore, free on $50,000 bond, is one of three teen-agers charged with capital murder in the slaying of Missy Lee Macon, 26. She was working as a night convenience store clerk when she was shot to death May 25, 1985, during a $700 robbery.

He was 17 at the time; the others were 17 and 14. All were described by friends and teachers as bright, popular, all-American youths.

McDonald said over the weekend that he expected the prosecution to conclude its case Monday. He said two psychiatrists would be called to testify that Moore had lost touch with reality through a role-playing game called ″Top Secret″ and was not responsible for his actions.

Scott Davis, now 19 and also charged in the killing, testified last week that he and Moore made a pact the day Mrs. Macon was slain. He said they were to play out their fantasy characters in ″Top Secret″ and then commit suicide.

″Top Secret″ was described in testimony as a dice-throwing game in which fantasy missions or roles are played out on paper. Davis said Moore’s name in the game was Thomas Hawk and he was Aubrey Knight, an ″administrator″ who played various characters as needed.

Davis said he, Moore and Chris White, now 16 and also charged with capital murder, usually played secret-agent characters and fantasized about robbing stores and killing people to carry out their missions.

On the day of Mrs. Macon’s killing, Davis said Friday, Moore asked him, ″Do you have a death wish?″ Davis said he took that to mean they should live out their roles in ″Top Secret″ and then kill themselves.

He said they got weapons and ammunition from White’s house and that Moore later shot Mrs. Macon and took money from the store. The three then drove to Florida, where White alerted authorities that Moore and Davis were contemplating suicide.

The two held cocked pistols to their heads before surrendering, according to Florida authorities.

Davis’ trial is expected later this year, but White has appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court his certification to stand trial as an adult.